Date post: | 07-Apr-2018 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | edgar-eslava |
View: | 234 times |
Download: | 0 times |
of 29
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
1/29
Divide to Conquer
Limiting the goals of English
composition courses
Edgar Eslava
National ELT Conference
Chia, Abril 24,2008
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
2/29
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
3/29
2. Students development of individualized modes of
expression is not always welcomed(mainly because of theweight that tradition imposes to academic writing).
Corollary: The use of
personally-developed
styles that do not
correspond with the
language accepted by
the academicestablishment is often
punished, regardless
of their effectiveness
and fluency in
transmitting content
and meaning.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
4/29
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
5/29
BUT, the force of the argument has led to over-read the history ofcomposition theory and its role in the classroom, overstating the goals and
practices that composition instructors should pursue and include whenever they
teach.
And things get all
mixed up.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
6/29
My aims for todays presentation:
1. To define the context and extent of what I call the overstatement
problem.
2. To present the basic lines of a suitable solution, the divide to
conquer strategy, in the context of a community of critical
thinkers.
Divide to conquer claims for a pedagogical
dynamics, that limits the need for a permanent
re-enacting of the history of composition theory
while still responding to the actual needs of
instructors and students: becoming members of
communities that value multi-perspective
approaches to conflicts resolution.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
7/29
Instruction and critical thinking
English language instructors (us) maintain a two-fold relation with what I
consider to be the main goal of any educative enterprise, the constructionof a community of critical thinkers.
1. We are in very favorable situation for the construction of environments
where critical thinking can be developed.
Few places compare to the classroom
for its multiple options for generating stimulating
discussions. In this space, the instructor
can lead students from diverse backgrounds
towards a mastery of analytical
communicative skills.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
8/29
Instruction and critical thinking
2. Because of the very nature of universities and schools as socially-regulated
academic institutions, we are required to show the limits between what can
be said and what cannot be said by those who aspire to become recognized as
members of the academic community. In this sense, we set the limits of the
admissible and the inadmissible.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
9/29
To fulfill their task, teachers must:
- Design class activities not only in accordance with the curriculum proposed by
their institutions but also structured under the notion that critical thinking only growsin a meaningful environment.
- Lectures should share the stage with activities where students participation is the
rule and not the exception.
- Present their views in such a way that contributes to students mastery of the
writing process.
- Give writing assignments that ask students for creative approaches, rather thanmerely asking for proving their ability to memorize and repeat information, that
beyond simply requiring logical consistency and grammatical precision allow them
to place themselves as active voices in ongoing dialogues.
- A serious commitment with ways of evaluating writing projects and in-class
participation in such a way that students understand the grading process not as a
punitive mechanism but as a feedback tool that allows them to see where they stand
as critical thinkers and writers.
No wonder why some teachers feel overwhelmed by the
heavy weight of their responsibilities.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
10/29
My definition shares:
Dewey's pragmatic approach. Dewey (1916) Democracy andEducation and Dewey (1938)Experience and Education).
Girouxs radicalism. Giroux (1983) Theory and resistance in
education: A pedagogy for the opposition, Giroux (1992) Border
crossings: Cultural workers and the politics of education)
My definition does not go as far, as Giroux does, as to declarepolitical action as the main goal of critical thinking. It opposes some
more restricted approaches that qualify critical thinking as the result
of the close observance of a set of formal activities and the
development of particular skills (for example Lipman (1988)
Philosophy goes to School, and Ennis (1994) Dispositions and
abilities if ideal critical thinkers. )
Links with Critical Thinking
A Critical Thinker is an individual who develops independent,
creative, argument-based and multi-perspective ideas, and whois able to present and defend them competently addressing
concrete audiences and responding to specific problems. (E.E.)
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
11/29
The primary advantage of such a broad definition is that it rests on the fact that the
generation of ideas involves the individuals who generate them and the contexts where
they are needed as responses to concrete situations.
A typical problem: From the formal approach, this social contextualism is reduced to a mereaccidental issue that can be ignored as part of the process of reaching formal correctness and
that plays no role once such correctness is reached. This is why curriculums centered on the
formal aspects of the composition process tend to promote objective measures of students
progress and efficacy and to pay little attention to the relation between class activities and the
students worldviews.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
12/29
As my operative definition suggests, teachers in general are in highly favorable position
to participate in the generation of environments where critical thinking can grow
naturally. This feature, if taken seriously enough, would generate class dynamics
where the traditional roles of students and instructors as the ends of a lineal processof information interchange are replaced by that of members of a community of
critical thinkers.
Argument-based ideas.
Multi-perspective ideas.
Present and defend ideas.Address concrete audiences
Respond to specific problems/tasks.
Not a one-way communication
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
13/29
For that reason composition instructors are in a privileged position as critical
thinking leaders and promoters. They act in a territory full of possibilities to
incorporate in their classes alternative viewpoints about shared problems, and the topic of
their classes cannot be more appropriate for the task of developing critical thinking: a
mastery of writing allows individuals to communicate in diverse contexts and to present
their ideas in a wide variety of modes. Consider for example how public discussions of
conflictive issues such as state legislatorsdecisions andcitizenspolitical participation
would benefit from voices of individuals capable of addressing the central arguments of
rival positions and to put them in fair dialogue. Such individuals would help
transforming open forums into standpoints for agreement.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
14/29
Therefore: teaching composition naturally subsumes the
promotion of critical thinking.
The critical thinking approach enriches the practice of
teaching composition by introducing into the teaching
practice valuable elements such as new roles for students
and instructors and a fresh way to undertake the
construction of class dynamics.
It is in this context that the problem of
overstating goals and practices must beunderstood.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
15/29
The overstatement problem
The overstatement problem is a twofold problem:
1. The over-reading of the lessons from the history of composition theories.2. Traditional methods are based on a view of writing process that positions it
as the most important communicative activity (at least for college-level
students), leaving unattended not only the rest of communicative practices
that play a role in the construction of discourses and disciplines but, more
insidious, the fact that they are in permanent dialogue with one another.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
16/29
The overstatement problem
1. The over-reading of the lessons from the history of composition theories.
Instructors try to condense all the lessons from the history of the discipline in
their current practices, without questioning the particular agendas and
objectives that such a history serves.
They tend to forget the enormous
difference between the time necessary forhistory to be built and the time frame in
which active instruction is confined.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
17/29
We know too much about our discipline if we try to use all our knowledge at once.
It is true that there is a tradition we are preserving and actualizing every time we get
into the classroom. We know about contexts, audiences, stages, theories, models andactivities.
BUT
The students we find in front of us are individuals starting in different developmental
stages, belonging to diverse social contexts.
We know too much if all our knowledge needs to be displayed on daily basis. There
will never be enough time for responding to all the variables history teaches us we
should consider for integrating the immense amount of tasks that generations ofeducators have shown we can perform to complete our goals, for understanding and
executing all the different theoretical approaches we know could be understood and
executed in order to make our practice more effective.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
18/29
The overstatement problem
It takes more that just one or two academic terms to develop solid and structured
writers, but that is about the time that composition instructors usually have toparticipate in the progress of their students.
The problem is then trying
to do much more than
what we can effectivelydo, just to be respectful
with the knowledge gained
from history.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
19/29
A path to solve the problem:
We have to carefully select the goals and activities around which our practice
gravitates and avoid the tempting way of pretending we can do everythingevery time.
Comprehensive goals are not at odds with using a limited number of strategies
to achieve them. Multi-perspective projects do not imply missing the focus
our class activities. Integration does not mean mixture, it means recognition of
the existence of multiple suitable solutions to particular problems, and finding
out which out of the multitude is the one that better serves us.
Divide to conquer means limiting the
goals and focuses the tasks that basic
composition courses should
accomplish, and extends the timeframe
for accomplishing those goals.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/PieChartFractionThirdsSplit.svghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/PieChartFractionThirdsSplit.svg8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
20/29
Extending in time the inclusion of formaland practical issues about composition
reduces the possibilities for being
overwhelmed by the cumulative character
of our knowledge.
Modifying instructional formats that
propose mastering different composition
styles and purposes in a mater of weeks
with, say, term-long formats that promote
the mastery of fundamental skills avoids a
dangerous mixture of goals and wouldprevent students to be overloaded with
activities.
History allows us to theset goals and provides
with examples of
suitable ways to
conquer them.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
21/29
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://oz.irtc.org/ftp/pub/stills/1997-10-31/cinema1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.irtc.org/stills/1997-10-31.html&h=600&w=800&sz=207&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=jH-fJT-EwcLsHM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcinema%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
22/29
A divide-to-conquer based program acknowledges this fact and uses it in the benefit of both
instructors and students. Composition instructors would find that in their effort for offering
students tools that allow them to understand, interpret and judge a diverse set of contexts and
media (written, drawn, played, multi-media constituted) there would be no better way than to
integrate them into multi-dimensional discourses.
Replacing the seemingly endless list of micro-projects that has traditionally been used to gain
practice in diverse writing styles and formats by projects focused on certain basic skills and
that help students to gain familiarity with the multi-dimensionality of the current academic
discourse would serve the instructors cause while making their practice more interesting and
rewarding.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://theanimationacademy.com/galleries/RMueck01a.jpg&imgrefurl=http://declubz.com/user/view/published/login/greg&h=375&w=500&sz=17&hl=en&start=15&tbnid=xOIIyAq6-Ic_FM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Danimation%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Denhttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://oz.irtc.org/ftp/pub/stills/1997-10-31/cinema1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.irtc.org/stills/1997-10-31.html&h=600&w=800&sz=207&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=jH-fJT-EwcLsHM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcinema%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Denhttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.letsgomobile.org/images/news/apple/iphone_apple.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.letsgomobile.org/en/0562/appleiphone/&h=430&w=430&sz=59&hl=en&start=9&tbnid=0JSSBUkRs4O5AM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Diphone%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Denhttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.actingschool.ws/picture_library/acting%2520school.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.actingschool.ws/&h=826&w=720&sz=103&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=FAyak75ofDBNxM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dacting%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Denhttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ssdesign.com/librarypr/download/odds_and_ends/reader.bmp&imgrefurl=http://www.ssdesign.com/librarypr/download/readergraphic.html&h=971&w=900&sz=111&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=6NricgI3gOuJdM:&tbnh=149&tbnw=138&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dreader%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Denhttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.marquette.edu/bea/write/graphics/writer-test-3.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.marquette.edu/bea/write/&h=508&w=720&sz=94&hl=en&start=9&tbnid=QjNvkcF30eI8NM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=140&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwriter%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Denhttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://purple-socks.webmage.com/writer.jpg&imgrefurl=http://purple-socks.webmage.com/char.htm&h=345&w=339&sz=22&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=_o64UEcB3y7f8M:&tbnh=120&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwriter%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
23/29
Students would find that such integrative projects open new
ways for effective use and construction of their own discursive
voice, with the emphasis placed not in the supremacy of writing
over the rest of communication strategies, but in the benefits that
mastering composition offers for participating in a multi-
dimensional dialogue - precisely the kind of dialogue that critical
thinkers are to generate and promote.
End of the theory, let us see an example
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
24/29
Course Description [of a classical Eng 101 class]
Composition 1 provides students with the rhetorical foundations that prepare them for the demands of academic and professional writing.
The course will help students understand the strategies and processes that good writers use when they try to accomplish a specific purpose.
In college, these purposes include writing to understand and to demonstrate that understanding; writing to teach, entertain, or persuade a
reader; writing to pose or solve problems; and writing to explain or challenge existing knowledge. The course will also teach students to
respond effectively to the writing of others, and to use the suggestions of their teacher and their peers to improve their own writing. Some
class discussion and readings focus on the function and scope of language and communication in a variety of social contexts.Student Learning Goals
Upon completing English 10, students should be able to:
Effectively use and analyze forms and conventions of academic writing;
Generate good writing using the help of specific methods for inventing and elaborating ideas, for arranging these ideas to achieve a specific rhetorical purpose, for
producing good style, for revising and for editing;
Write well in a variety of rhetorical contexts;
Understand the ways that purpose, process, subject matter, form, style, tone, and diction can be shaped to address a particular audience in a specific situation;
Demonstrate understanding of the ways that language and communication shape experience, construct meaning, and foster community;
Use Edited American English appropriately.
Course calendarWeek 1 (Aug.20-24)
Diagnostic
Presentation of Class Syllabus, activities and assignments
Introduction of Paper 1 assignment
Week 2 (Aug.27-31)
Generating and focusing essays ideas
Narration and description
Week 3 (Sept. 3-7)
First paper dueLabor Day Holliday
Focusing (II)
Introduction of paper 3 assignment
Week 4 (Sept. 10-14)
Second paper due
Introduction of Paper 3 assignment
Audience awareness
Week 5 (Sept. 17-21)
Persuading and argumentationDiscussion of a classical Philosophical argumentative text
Week 6(Sept. 24-28)Third paper due
Introduction of Paper 4 assignment
Week 7(Oct. 1-5)
Research tools
Design of a research outline
Week 8 (Oct. 8-12)
MLA and other technical tools
Technical workshop
Week 9 (Oct. 15-19)
Illustration and exemplification
Fourth paper due
Week 10 (Oct. 22-26)
Comparing and contrasting
Fall Break (Oct.27-Nov.4) No Classes
Week 11 (Nov. 5-9)
Analyzing the writing process
Week 12 (Nov. 12-16)
Fifth paper due
Review of theoretical contentFocusing on the final document
Week 13 (Nov. 19-23)Review of technical tools
Grammar workshop
Week 14 (Nov. 26-30)
Editing and revising
documents
Week 15 (Dec. 3-7)
Final paper due (Monday)
Course evaluation
Preparation for the final exam
Final Exam
Dec. 10, 10:00-12:00
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
25/29
Course Description [of a classical Eng 101 class]
Main activities:
Read and Write.
Main resources:
Textbooks.
Final product:
Large amount of diverse (unconnected) material, plus final exam.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
26/29
A less classical (real) example
Course goals: extend the skills of expository writing and critical thinking, appreciate and
interpret drama and poetry, and write analytically about them; understand literary principles
and use basic terms important to critical writing and reading; and document essays using textualevidence.
This section will focus on the plays of Shakespeare and film adaptations of those plays. Students
will learn to deal with the challenges of reading Renaissance drama, discuss the importance of
cultural context in reading Shakespeare, explore reading film as literature, and examine issues of
adapting and updating the plays for the screen.
Course requirements: Students will write four essays (two drafts and two finished texts) . In
addition to writing papers and doing other work, all students will create a Final Writing
Portfolio that counts approximately as one-third of their final grade. The Portfolio will include:
a biography of the portfolio author and, if desired, a picture of the writer or other relevant
image;
an Introductory Reflective Essay that presents a significant "thesis" to be demonstrated by the
individual writing exhibits;
two of the four essays written for the class--revised, edited, and polished as final products for
the portfolio;
one example of writing that demonstrates and discusses the student's composing process and
revision skills/process;
one example that demonstrates and discusses the student's contribution to peer review;
one "wild card" submission chosen by the student.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
27/29
A less classical (real) example.
Main activities:
Read, discuss, interpret, watch, document analysis, write.
Main resources:
Films, personal portfolio, Shakespeares.
Final products:
Two sets of connected essays, Writing portfolio, enactments.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
28/29
Students would find that such integrative projects open new
ways for effective use and construction of their own
discursive voice, with the emphasis placed not in the
supremacy of writing over the rest of communicationstrategies, but in the benefits that mastering composition
offers for participating in a multi-dimensional dialogue -
precisely the kind of dialogue that critical thinkers are to
generate and promote.
After all
Theoretically speaking, even if the general features of a text could be understood in
similar ways for multiple readers, the transmitted message or the aesthetic effect it
provokes could probably be considerably different. For example, depending on
personal backgrounds and interests, Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet can be seen as a
drama of passion and devotion of young lovers, or as a tale of immaturity and
foolishness, or it could be viewed as a story that points out the need for transgressing
social rules and commitments when trying to get what is desperately wanted, or the
theme of the angst and hollowness of two lives that look for their meaning out of
themselves.
8/6/2019 Divide to conquer
29/29
Who can explaina kiss, with words
only?
http://bp0.blogger.com/_hiSHBRvcgwY/Rnay1SMXEkI/AAAAAAAAAAg/0bDjH1iUwe4/s1600-h/romeo-juliet.jpg